There’s No Good Reason for Carney to Privatize Canada’s Airports - The Tyee

Listen to this article 5 min When Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals first floated airport privatization in the 2025 budget, it was identified as a way of “improving affordability for Canadians.” This has been abandoned as Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon acknowledged travellers could pay more. ANNOUNCEMENTS, EVENTS & MORE FROM TYEE AND SELECT PARTNERS Take a Trip with Us: VIFF’s Documentary Series Spans the Globe ‘Insights’ takes audiences far and wide with stories of struggle, triumph and renewal. In fact, none of the reasons cited by Carney for airport privatization hold up, which raises the question: Why is he doing it? Carney described his recent investment summit as an opportunity for the “world’s largest investors” to “peer into our shop window.” It turns out that Canada’s four largest airports were among the things for sale. Privatizing airport operations puts travellers, workers and communities at risk while further empowering corporate interests. Carney and others are trying to bog down opponents in the details, insisting that it is not “privatization” because the government will retain ownership of the underlying land and physical assets. However, the defence is disingenuous. As global business law firm Gowling WLG noted, airport privatization “refers to the transfer of ownership, management, or operational control of airport assets from the public sector to private entities” (emphasis added). The Tyee is supported by readers like you Join us and grow independent media in Canada In 1994, the government created the National Airports System. Under this system, Transport Canada owns 23 airports with operations leased to not-for-profit airport authorities. These authorities run the airports on a cost-recovery basis. The government’s new plan would allow operations to be leased by for-profit entities that can divert revenue to their owners. This would change the airports’ purpose from serving the public interest to serving private interests. Free-market ideologues insist that the profit motive aligns private interests with the public interest. However, this claim is purely theoretical and requires adherents to ignore the numerous examples of powerful corporations routinely and systematically harming people and planet in their pursuit of ever greater financial returns. Higher profits can be achieved by increasing revenue or decreasing costs. Revenue can be increased with higher prices, while costs can be decreased by lowering…